Waymo is revving up to bring its robotaxis to 10 new cities this year, kicking things off in Las Vegas and San Diego. While that sounds exciting, don’t expect to hail a driverless car just yet. Reports indicate the company will send fewer than 10 autonomous vehicles to each city, but here’s the catch—they’ll be driven manually at first.

This move comes as Waymo continues to expand its footprint. The Alphabet-owned company already operates commercial robotaxi services in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with plans to roll out in Austin, Atlanta, and Miami soon. The latest testing phase is all about gathering data and seeing how Waymo’s systems handle different urban environments.

It’s worth noting that this news broke just hours before Tesla’s 2024 fourth-quarter earnings call, where the electric car giant is expected to share updates on its own self-driving and robotaxi projects.

Waymo’s approach is methodical. The company often deploys small, human-driven fleets to test its tech in diverse conditions before going fully autonomous. Last year, for example, it tested its vehicles in Michigan and upstate New York to see how they’d perform in snowy, icy weather.

While there’s no word yet on whether any of these new cities will eventually get a robotaxi service, it’s clear Waymo is laying the groundwork for a broader rollout. Stay tuned as the race for autonomous driving heats up!